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To begin planning our short film, my group and I met briefly and listened to each other's ideas. I felt really listened to and enjoyed being able to bounce off each other's ideas even though I had only just met them. We created the plan and began to build shot lists and storyboards as well as discussing where we would film and with what equipment.

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Presented here are the activities from my ATOMs passport, all evidenced to show you my work

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Worshop 1 - Foley

In the foley workshop we were given a silent clip lasting a couple of seconds and had to identify what sounds we should add to it, such as footsteps, body movement and flame sounds. I really enjoyed how we could explore the different sounds made by the materials and work together to identify what materials would work with the visual aspects of the video. I thoroughly enjoyed my opportunity to create the footsteps of the video using two pieces of metal. At first I found it incredibly difficult to get the timing right but in the end it turned out perfectly! Before this workshop I did not have as much of an interest in sound however I think I would love to explore it further.

Workshop 2 - Soundscape Recording

In this second workshop we learnt how to use the Zoom H2n in order to record sounds in a natural environment. I got used to the basics of how to record and listen out for noise but unfortunately our workshop was cut short after it started raining. I would like to take the time to explore soundscape recording further as I feel I did not have enough time to explore recording many different sounds.

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Workshop 1 - Filming with a set

In this workshop I developed my directing skills and somehow my acting skills. With the first set I began to discuss how the scene can be framed with a post-apocalyptic genre using a handheld camera that worked really well with the outcome. I loved building my confidence as a director and being able to share my creative ideas with the rest of my group and watch how everyone came together to make those crazy ideas possible. I would have loved, however, to be able to try out the camera itself as I feel I am developing an interest for cinematography.

In the second set with the camera on a dolly track, I ended up acting which I really do not enjoy. It was very interesting however to see how the camera worked on the track but I wish I got the chance to use the camera too.

Workshop 2 - Virtual Screen

In this workshop we were introduced to the Volume virtual screen in RG03 and its mechanics. I found the Volume screen really interesting and tried using the camera for the screen. I would love to learn more about how the screen works and I think it will be very useful in my future films at this uni.

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When filming we started at the university path surrounded by greenery as we wanted a very cheeful short film and followed our actor down the path and into Farnham, occasionally finding a decent place to shot another clip, mostly of walking or of the surrounding nature to set the scene. We then arrived at the flower shop and discussed with the workers what we are doing and if they'd be willing to participate as we bought the flowers. We then headed back after filming at the flower shop and took shots of the walk back now with the flowers. After that we headed to the flat and our second actor changed into the dress so that we could begin to focus on the red hues of the roses and dress, creating that sense of love and lust in our movie.

During the filming process, I really enjoyed how I was able to participate in the directing discussions of what to film and how to get the perfect angle, shot and shot variety. I also loved being able to touch into the cinemtogaphy, mostly in the flat scenes, being able to display my creative visual ideas through this.

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I have always been interested in the process of colour grading so I decided to volunteer to take it on in order to explore it myself. To begin to understand how to use Davinci Resolve's colour correcting and grading mechanics I watched a couple YouTube tutorials which gave explanations for what certain functions do to the product. I started off with the raw footage which had quite a colour-drained look and corrected the colours to look more like how it was shot originally and from there I could start the colour grading. My idea was to create a warm, calming and cheerful atmosphere which also had an undertone of romance and partially lust, so I focused on the colours of yellow and red. To create this tone, I took away most of the blue in the picture and focused on the green and red. I am quite pleased that the atmospheric yellow that it shown through the entire film perfectly captures the emotion I was trying to create with the colours, producing a sense of calm and relaxation which is momentarily interrupted by the eye-catching reds occasionally present. I think the dull yellows really illuminate the reds and help to highlight them in the piece. I am so happy that this project allowed me to explore a long interest of mine that I hadn't yet experimented with and I am incredibly happy with the overall picture I have managed to create.

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Hi I'm Katie! Welcome to my Personal Learning Experience. I'm starting off this course with little to no experience in film production as I am a script writer. I have had a little experience in editing but other than that I am really excited to learn about the process. I am most excited to learn about cinematography and lighting as I have some interest in photography. I chose film production because I want to learn how to bring my ideas to life so that I can follow through with some of my scripts, or to simply understand the process that comes after my scripts themselves.

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My current portfolio includes an array of unfinished scripts that have been written mostly for fun, along with the massive planning beforehand. I also made a small documentary style short film called "Who I Am" using videos from my chilhood to introduce others to... Who I Am.

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Who I Am delves into my personal life and the people who surround me or have surrounded me and how they impacted my life in a positive way. This short film was very fun to make and allowed me to get used to editing clips together and recording voiceovers and I enjoyed it, I would like to go further with my editing skills throughout this course.

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Dorm Baby is a comedy script I have began writing about teen mother Maria starting university and ending up having to take care of the baby herself whilst staying in accommodation. All the characters living in the flats have distinct personalities and different methods of taking care of baby Momo whilst trying to hide the fact they have a baby in the flat from the security.

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Mind Reader is currently my biggest script, designed to be a TV series and it is a passion project of mine. It follows characters Miyun, Vinnie and Hailee as they try to find their friends who became victims of a serial kidnapping, with the help of rich millionaire daughter Hailee and her tech skills, as well as Miyun and Vinnie's illegal mind reading skills.

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The Finished Movie: Flower.mp4

I am very pleased with the finished film and how it captures the emotion my group and I were trying to create. The editing of the music and sound fit perfectly with the calm atmosphere and the colour grading highlights this. Additionally the shots are quite static and slow so there's no sense of rush, further emphasising the relaxing vibe to the film. I had so much fun doing this project and have discovered different elements of film production that I want to study further.

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To begin our work into the EDI unit we had an introductory lecture where we watched the film 'Belle'. I found this film very interesting and also very important to current day media due to the issues surrounding racism that are still present to this day. Although the film appeared to be more romanticised than the actual story, and also could present the issue of white saviourism.

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To begin learning about screen fundamentals, week 1 was dedicated to cameras and script writing. In one session we learnt how to use the Canon C70 which I would love to explore and use in the future. This focus on cameras has furthered my interest in cinematography and even though I arrived at this uni thinking I wouldn't touch upon cinematography, I now wish to learn more about cameras and use them in the future.

Additionally, the workshops with script writing were incredibly important to me as they are my main focus in film production, I love the creativity but also the technicality that work together to create a good script. At this university I would love to develop my own personal scripts and with the help of the tutors, be able to learn how to pitch my ideas for the future.

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For our second week of the EDI unit we focused on gender and sexuality in the media. LGBTQ+ representation in cinema is a very important topic to me personally as a lesbian so I thoroughly enjoyed being able to share my thoughts on the problems surrounding the industry in terms of sexuality and gender representation. Firstly, we had a lecture discussing gender and transgender representation in the industry and I found I took away a couple important points from this lecture, the main point which I wish to carry throughout my career is in order to get good representation, you need to have people of that minority working alongside you for an accurate portrayal.

In the seminar, we focused more on sexuality in our discussions and I got to express one of my pet peeves with saphic representation which is the 'lesbian death trope' where commonly in TV or film, if there is a lesbian couple one of them always dies, for example Villanelle in 'Killing Eve' and Lexa in 'The 100'. This specific trope displays the idea that lesbians can not be happy in the end and continues from what was discussed in the lecture that quite often queer stories include extreme tragedies that are not seen with straight stories. However, in this seminar we also discussed positive representation in current media and how it has become more mainstream.

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In week 2, we focused more on lighting for production and I did not think I would be as interested as I was. We were shown both the DMG Dash Pocket and the Ledgo LED Light Panels. I really enjoyed learning about how to use lighting as it's something I've never focused on as much with my experience in film, however I found an interest for overly colourful lighting during my time in A Level. I was most interested in the features of the Dash Pocket and the different effects they create but also they're range of colours that I hope to use in my films.

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In this week we focused on documentaries and how to create them. I have always been quite fascinated with documentaries, especially nature or history documentaries but have never focused on personal ones apart from the one I made for my portfolio.

We began by learning the fundamentals of documentary work with Ang, learning about specific shots such as an establishing shot and close ups that are quite common in documentaries. As I'm very new to film production it was very intruiging to me to learn about these shots. After learning these fundamentals we got to practice making our own short documentaries in groups using a Cannon C70 and a shotgun mic. I loved being able to finally work with this camera and begin to get used to cinematography with proffesional cameras rather than a phone or old camcorder and liked working with the group to create this documentary. I worked as the director for this so I was able to build my confidence in that area also, suggesting angles and dialogue for the crew. Overall I was relatively pleased with the final result, however I feel I could explore this area further and this focus on documentaries has given me an idea for my Portrait Project due in December.

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This week in EDI we focused on feminism in film which I am very passionate about. Firstly we had our keynote and were taught the history of the sexualisation and objectification of women in film and discussed the term 'male-gaze' and what it entails. I was incredibly interested in this lecture as it linked to some of my own research I had done previously into the sexist language in Bond films throughout time. After this lecture we had our seminar where we discussed further the roles imposed not only on women but men too and how both toxic masculinity and femininity in film affect our lives and are reflected in society.

Feminism in film is an aspect that will become a big part of my writing and production, especially after these lectures where debates began within the class about if the term 'male-gaze' is still relevant and claimed the lectures were attacking men. The complete refusal to learn the history of sexist film from some of the guys in the course really highlighted to me the importance of making my voice and other women's voices heard in the industry in order to change society as a whole

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In this mockumentary inspired by 'The Office' and 'My Strange Addiction', Lindsay's friends express their concern and outrage at Lindsay's inability to walk at a normal pace.

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This idea stems from our recent focus on documentary work combined with some creative boredom when walking. I hope to create a comedic piece through dialogue in a short amount of time. My main focus of comedy will be brought through the dialogue and timing.

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For the fourth week of EDI, we looked into post-colonialism and the affect it had on the film industry. We looked at how stereotypes stemmed from this period in time and how the 'white saviour main character' was a focal point and still is a focal point in the majority of media. In our seminars this discussion led to stereotypes we have both observed and experienced, the main being the inability to pronounce names. This came from a video we were shown about different ethnicities and their shared problem of their names being ridiculed that is still a massive problem in modern society.

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In the keynote of week 5, former students discussed their troubles in the industry and also their aspirations for a more inclusive future industry. I found this interview incredibly informative and interesting as both former students gave ideas such as working with people from different minorities to create more accurate representation in the media in order to eradicate any stereotypes still present in the industry.

In our seminars we then discussed the representation of class in media and the stereotypes that come with it. We discussed how the middle class appears to be the default class in media. I then highlighted how it feels that the lower class is often used for comedic effect in media, as shown in shows and films like 'This Country'.

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This week we began our post-production workshops. Although I have done some editing in the past I have never worked with Premiere Pro. After learning the basics I found it very enjoyable going through the scene and editing the clips together and also discovered some shortcuts that helped massively. I would love to use Premiere Pro in my own work in the future as I found it easy and fun to use.

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This week we continued our work into post-production with colour grading. I am extremely enthusiastic about colour grading and find it very enjoyable after my work on my first project. However using Premiere Pro as opposed to Davinci Resolve was a little more difficult as I find Davinci a bit easier to use in terms of colour grading. I would however love to continue my focus on colour throughout my career.

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As my main focus in Film Production is Scriptwriting, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to fully finish a short script and write something which I enjoy. My main worry was the way that the comedy of the film relied quite heavily on the dialogue itself so I wanted to make sure it was perfect.

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The one thing I struggled with after writing the script was the rest of the pre-production. I've never done any type of producing before so I felt unprepared and really stressed, so I know now that producing is most likely not for me.

After writing the script, however, I put out a casting call on my social media and got quite a few responses. I organised online auditions and readings for the characters so I could best gauge who fits my vision the most. I am extremely pleased with the actors I managed to gather in the end as they were genuinely spot on!

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When it finally came to filming day, I had two other film production students on hand to help me. We spent two hours setting up before the actors arrived in order to be as quick and productive as possible. We provided snacks and drinks for the cast.

To begin the filming we started with the interviews, filming each with the dialogue to cut in post. We all had great fun and even had to cut a few shots due to laughing! My crew and cast were all very supportive as it was my first time directing, however as time went on I became more and more comfortable with giving feedback and direction to both cast and crew.

After filming the interviews we went outside to film the final shots before heading home. We had some trouble with the microphone and left some shots' sound to be completed in post.

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In post, I began with cutting the clips together the way that I had written, so the interviews cut back and forth between each other along with any comedic cuts embedded in. I really enjoyed editing as I've done it before and also the premiere pro workshops have been incredibly useful for me.

I then proceeded to deal with the sound, reducing the gain and adding sound to the clips that didn't have any due to the microphone problem (I've been told people didn't realise anything was wrong, so that's a good sign).

After this I did some colour correction and slight colour grading as the clips had for some reason turned out really dark. I increased the exposure in post and increased the warmth to create a softer visual for the audience.

Finally, I edited the end which had been something I thought of from the very start, with a slideshow much like 'First Dates' where they add a '3 months later' section. Combined with the music (Frolic - Luciano Michelini), the end became my favourite part as it had the comedic timing I'd been aiming for.

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One thing that had worried me was if I'd even managed to be funny and made people feel the emotions I had been intending. So I sent my film around to my friends, family and social media and I'm extremely pleased with the feedback I got:

"This is actually properly funny - I'm a bit shocked to be honest" - my dad

"I showed my sister and she loved it" - a friend from home

"So funny, so you" - my old English teacher

"it hard slayed beyond belief" - a fellow film student

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Overall, I am incredibly happy with the end result. I enjoyed making my first film and have definitely learnt a lot. Even through the stress I endured during some aspects where I felt like I didn't know what I was doing, I'm proud of myself for pulling through and managing to produce the film almost entirely independently. I'm astounded I actually made people laugh and feel emotions I wanted them to, it feels incredibly fulfilling to me.

I'm so excited for what film I'll make next.

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To finish off screen fundamentals, we had our final post production workshop where we learnt about keyframing and visual effects. I really enjoyed this workshop and learnt a lot about visual effects as I have never done anything like it before.

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In the final weeks, we were given time to work on our summative assessments after everything we have learnt.

I thoroughly enjoyed this unit, and as someone who has never done any type of film production before. I have definitely learnt a lot that I will be taking with me throughout the course.

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The initial idea for our pitch is a queer romance movie, inspired by my own experience. The idea is paired with the song 'The Winner Is - DeVotchKa, Mychael Danna' in which I was reminded of my personal growth with mental health and how the world became brighter when meeting my girlfriend, which is what this pitch is heavily inspired by.

I originally thought this idea was quite boring, however I was told by a lecturer "it's not boring, it's just undeveloped". After hearing this I decided to use this idea and build on it with the advice of my lecturers. I was told to add something abstract like a vampire, and after some discussion with my group we decided on an alien, with which we could present the metaphor of being alienated from society.

Additionally, we decided on naming the film 'Can I Sit Here?' which helps convey the importance of the first scene in our idea, and how this girl's subconscious kindess led to the storyline we created.

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With the help of our lecturers we further developed the initial idea to create a more enticing film. We were first advised to maybe add higher stakes, so we decided to add another love interest for the girl, making the audience root for the alien more when she has to compete with the boy. Additionally, we were told we needed a more captivating and big ending, so we decided that the girl herself would also turn into an alien (inspired by shrek).

Now that the idea was fully developed, I finally felt confident with the concept, as I had been nervous to explore it before because I felt it was too boring.

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I wrote the pitch with specific timings correlating to 'The Winner Is' so that I could fully show to the lecturers my vision and hopefully whilst reading the pitch they were able to envision the film too.

I was incredibly happy in the end to find out that our film had been chosen for production! It gave me a lot of confidence in my writing and ideas.

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For the film 'Can I Sit Here?' I was chosen as both writer and director.

The pre-production started with my first job which was script-writing. I took the transcript I had made for the pitch and transformed it into the script, however due to issues with copyright we could no longer use the music we wanted. After some feedback from the initial pitch as well, I added in more meet cute moments for both the boy and the alien with the girl, as well as more high stakes such as a scene showing the alien being bullied for her looks.

Following the script being produced, me and my crew began working on the production design whilst getting everything ready. For me this included giving a presentation on my visions for each scene with screengrabs of films and sketches of certain scenes, as well as countless meetings with both the crew and the actors so they were aware of what stage we were at and when they would be filming.

As it neared the filming dates, I created schedules and analysied the shot lists created by my DOP in order to be extremely organised, creating a document to keep with me when on set.

As this was my first time directing, I strived to be as organised as I could on set in order to prevent stress. I also researched into how to be a better director, reading "Filmmaking for Dummies" by Brian Michael Stoller in which Stoller states "The director sets

the tone on-set with the cast and crew (...) Actors

often subliminally mirror their directors. If the

director is frantic, uptight and nervous, the actors’

performances are affected. If the director is

confident, organised and decisive, the actors feel

a sense of security." This stuck with me and I strived to try and achieve a fun but professional working environment.

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Our production consisted of three shoot days.

On day 1, it was our biggest shoot, with the entirety of the crew present, along with actors and extras. This took place in the lecture theatre and was the majority of the film itself, which is why it was such a big set. Although at times I was very stressed, I remained composed and had quite a lot of fun on set. We managed to finish half an hour ahead of schedule which made me very pleased. I ensured I spoke to everyone from my crew that day, as well as giving a speech to start for the actors and extras so they were aware of what they were supposed to be doing. The set went really smooth and I was pleased with the outcome.

On day 2, we filmed multiple different scenes but the main focus was on the end scene which turned out absolutely perfect. The only trouble we had was the sun going down whilst trying to do the makeup for the alien, so hopefully that will be sorted in post with colour grading.

Our final day consisted of a few more shots needed here and there before fully finishing, such as scenes of characters on the phone or some meet cute moments for the girl and the boy.

Overall, I really enjoyed producing this film and I think I noticeably grew in confidence as the days went on. I am very proud of what I managed to achieve.

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For my experimental film, I decided to explore the idea of hoping you've made your younger self proud with the person you have become. I decided to explore this idea with my dad's old camcorder, being able to use baby videos and create more videos with a nostalgic feel helped to enhance the emotions in the film.

I explored layering and opacity quite a bit in this film, and how by doing so a dreamy effect is created which is also quite confusing. I also subtly explored the idea of mental health and overcoming those challenges, and hoping that younger you who was struggling with mental health can see how everything does get better.

I really enjoyed making this film even if it was quite a short unit, as I got to explore a lot of ideas and experiment with different cameras, effects, music and a lack of storyline whcih, as a scriptwriter, I normally focus on a lot.

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Here is the film in which I directed for the Narrative Film unit.

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This is my script which focuses on action and mystery and I have been writing since 2021.

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Here's an example of me using my digital art skills to present my vision for a film.

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Here's an example of me colour grading on DaVinci Resolve. I have since learnt to also colour grade with Premiere Pro, but prefer Davinci.

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This is my comedy script which I started as I moved to uni. I hope to be able to pitch this script by the end of my studies.

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For fun and to grow a following, I decided to edit some gaming videos I have recorded, here is an example of one of the videos being edited. I have since grown a lot more confident in editing and thoroughly enjoy it.

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I Hope She's Proud - An Experimental Student Film

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For post-production, I kept in close contact with the editor and composer, often even meeting with them to check on their progress. To finally finish the film I met with them both and the producer to line up the music with the film which turned out perfectly. I attempted some colour grading but it didn't quite work in the end so me and the editor explored some LUTs for some scenes.

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I am INCREDIBLY proud of this film and I had so much fun directing it. I am incredibly thankful for the team I had, even during the rough moments we all worked together to make the best film possible. I have even stated to multiple people in this crew that I would absolutely love to work with them again as we gelled so well.

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Over this past year I have been able to grow in confidence and make so many friends and good connections. I have been able to step outside of my comfort zone of writing and explore other aspects of film production just like I wanted to, finding love for things such as editing and directing. I am incredibly pleased with what I have produced this year and I have learnt so much from the different units and explored my own identity through my work more.